Turmoil grips stumbling McCain campaign

Myriam Chaplain-Riou, Davenport, Iowa

JOHN McCain's White House bid is in turmoil, as his running mate, Sarah Palin, struggles to shake off accusations of abuse of power and he was booed by supporters he told to cool anti-Barack Obama abuse.

The Republican nominee was also trailing his Democratic rival by 11 points in a new poll, the latest sign that he needs a near-immediate turnaround of fortunes with just over three weeks to go before the November 4 election.

A bipartisan legislative report in Mrs Palin's home state of Alaska yesterday found the vice-presidential nominee abused her powers as governor by pressuring officials to fire her former brother-in-law, a state trooper.

The probe was the latest blow to Mrs Palin, who electrified the Republican Party when she was first picked, but has seen her impact, especially among undecided voters and women, diminish amid questions about her qualifications.

Related Content

Asked if the charge were true, Mrs Palin told CNN television: "No, and if you read the report you will see that there was nothing unlawful or unethical about it. You have to read the report."

A section of the report, which runs to 263 pages, reads: "Governor Palin knowingly permitted a situation to continue where impermissible pressure was placed on several subordinates in order to advance a personal agenda … to get Trooper Michael Wooten fired.

Advertisement

"She had the authority and power to require Mr Palin to cease contacting subordinates, but she failed to act."

The McCain campaign, however, highlighted a section of the report that found that nevertheless, Mrs Palin had acted within her "constitutional and statutory authority" in the case.

Senator McCain, meanwhile, faced a controversy of his own, after he had to twice step in at a town hall meeting in Minnesota yesterday, after one woman said Obama was an "Arab" and a man said he was "scared" of the Democrat.

Critics say the seething anger seen at McCain rallies, with shouts of "treason" and "kill him" heard from some crowds, has been whipped up by campaign ads that have accused the Democrat of associating with "terrorists".

Democratic politician and civil rights advocate John Lewis said the Republicans were "sowing the seeds of hatred and division, and there is no need for this hostility in our political discourse".

A Republican strategist who used to work for Senator McCain said: "John knows that his reputation as a decent man is on the line, but he's got devils on each shoulder telling him to hit harder."

Senator McCain told the town hall meeting at Lakeville, Minnesota, that Senator Obama is "a decent family man (and) citizen that I just happen to have disagreements with on fundamental issues and that's what this campaign's all about".

He told the man who said he was "scared" to bring his new baby into an America ruled by Obama that the Democrat was a "person that you do not have to be scared of as president of the United States".

Senator McCain's comments drew boos from some of his supporters.

Senator Obama yesterday acknowledged Senator McCain's attempt to cool the seething tempers, but charged his rival with running a negative campaign to try to distract voters from the No. 1 issue, the tumbling US economy.

"Now, I want to acknowledge that Senator McCain tried to tone down the rhetoric yesterday in his town hall meeting and I appreciate his reminder that we can disagree while still being respectful of each other," Senator Obama said.

"I have said it before and I'll say it again - Senator McCain has served this country with honour and he deserves our thanks for that," as McCain's name was greeted with boos at Senator Obama's rallies in Philadelphia.

Senator McCain's spokesman, Tucker Bounds, immediately responded: "The tone of this election is not fuelling voter outrage, it's that Americans are frustrated" at Senator Obama's "plans to raise taxes during a down economy".

Just 24 days before the election, time appeared to be fast running out for Senator McCain to change the trajectory of a campaign that has seemed to be slipping away ever since the onset of the worst financial crisis since the 1930s.

Senator Obama led Senator McCain 52% to 41% among registered voters nationwide, according to a new Newsweek survey, which a month ago had the race locked at 46%.

As many as 86% of voters said they were dissatisfied with the way things were going in the United States, and only 10% said they were satisfied - a grim omen for Republicans.

Some party leaders said they were concerned that the race was slipping away and that Senator McCain and his advisers seemed to be adrift.

"I think you're seeing a turning point," said Saul Anuzis, the Republican chairman in Michigan, a state Senator McCain pulled out of last week. "You're starting to feel real frustration because we are running out of time. Our message, the campaign's message, isn't connecting."

In Pennsylvania, Robert Gleason jnr, the state Republican chairman, said he was concerned that Senator McCain's increasingly aggressive tone was ineffective with moderate voters and women in the critical south-east part of a state that is at the top of Senator McCain's must-win list.

"I just think the voters are a bit more sophisticated maybe in the south-east - they're not as susceptible to attack ads," Mr Gleason said. "I worry about the south-east. Obama is making inroads."

Vin Weber, a former Republican congressman from Minnesota, said: "The main thing he needs to do is focus on a single message, a single concise or clear-cut message, and stick with that over the next 30 days, regardless of what happens. He's had a lot of attack lines. But it's time to choose."

â- Senator McCain's campaign has ousted a prominent Virginia Republican figure who wrote a newspaper column mocking a potential Barack Obama administration. A McCain spokeswoman said Bobby May was dropped this week from his job as McCain's Buchanan County campaign chairman.

May wrote in his column: "The (clarified) platform of Barack Hussein Obama", that if the Democratic senator were elected he would hire rapper Ludacris to paint the White House black and change the national anthem to the "Black National Anthem".